PHILADELPHIA, PA--(HealthWire)--December 13, 1996--HEMISPHERx  BIOPHARMA INC.
(NASDAQ: HEMX, HEMXW) and Temple University announced today that they settled
their legal disputes regarding the license  agreement between the parties
covering the Oragen(TM) drugs.  The  parties have signed the documents
required to consummate their  settlement.   

In August 1988, the Company entered into a pharmaceutical use  license
agreement with Temple University.  Under the terms of this  agreement, Temple
granted the Company an exclusive world-wide license for the commercial sale
of Oragen(TM) products using patents and related technology held by Temple
until the last to expire of any related  patents then or thereinafter issued.
 In July 1994, Temple terminated the agreement.   

In November 1994, the Company filed suit against Temple in the  Superior
Court of the State of Delaware seeking a declaratory  judgment that the
agreement was unlawfully terminated by Temple and  therefore remained in full
force and effect.  Temple filed a separate suit against the Company seeking a
declaratory judgment that its  agreement with the Company was properly
terminated.  These legal  actions have all now been terminated.  Under the
settlement, the  parties have entered into a new pharmaceutical use license
agreement  that is equivalent in duration and scope.   

"We are pleased to have resolved this issue and reestablished a  close,
cooperative relationship with Temple," said Dr. William A.   Carter, Chief
Executive Officer of HEMISPHERx.   

"We look forward to working with HEMISPHERx again to commercialize  this
exciting technology," said Dr. Antonio Goncalves, Associate  Vice Provost of
Temple University.   

Oragen drugs are low molecular weight RNA compounds which the  Company
believes, by virtue of their small size and molecular  stability, have the
potential for becoming the first oral,  broad-spectrum treatments for various
viral diseases such as HIV  infection and chronic HBV infection.   

Initial studies indicated that these drugs may withstand enzymatic
 destruction, an important factor in order for compounds to enter the  blood
stream in an intact form.  Results from in vitro studies  conducted in
collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
indicate that Oragen(TM) products may inhibit HBV infection, and in vitro
studies conducted in collaboration with the  National Cancer Institute and
the University of Mainz, Germany,  indicate that Oragen(TM) products may
inhibit HIV infections.   

The Company believes Oragen(TM) drugs work at a different stage of  the
anti-viral and anti-cancer response chain than their current  product in
clinical testing, Ampligen(R), and therefore may be  effective in disorders
where the activity of Ampligen(R) is limited. The Company also believes that
Oragen(TM) drugs can potentially be  engineered to trigger specific responses
in immune cells based on in  vitro tests.   

CONTACT:  

HEMISPHERx BIOPHARMA, INC.  

R. Douglas Hulse, COO  

(215) 988-0080 

or 

VMW, Inc.  

Vicki Miles Weiner  

(212) 605-3140 

KEYWORD:  PENNSYLVANIA 

INDUSTRY KEYWORD:  MEDICINE BIOTECHNOLOGY PHARMACEUTICAL  

DUCATION 



BW1077  DEC 13,1996